THE LIMITS OF POLITICAL VAWULENCE

The growing resort to corrosive language speaks volumes about what we think of ourselves and what our leaders think of us, writes Paul Nwabuikwu

The decision of PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar to appoint former senator and popular rabble rouser Dino Melaye as one of his campaign spokesmen was quite a surprise. Given the serious issues confronting PDP, Dino cannot be what the doctor ordered for the 2003 campaign.

The party is battling increasing public distrust, growing public disenchantment with establishment politics and the effects of being out of government for eight years in a political system where electoral relevance and access to resources are largely determined by proximity to power.

PDP is also facing two other significant difficulties with potentially fatal consequences: the ongoing internal mutiny led by Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike and the challenge presented by the growing popularity of former Anambra Governor Peter Obi who has become a symbol of a new kind of politics that is presenting a robust alternative to PDP and APC, the two parties that have monopolized power at the federal level since 1999.

So why did Atiku, a man with a credible claim to being one of the few nationally prominent politicians with tested managerial capacity, someone who should know a few things about hiring the right hands for important jobs, pick Melaye who does not have strong antecedents in public communication, as a key official voice for the PDP campaign?

Before we confront that question, some context is necessary. Melaye, as social media can testify, is not lacking in certain kinds of talent. He is famous (or infamous depending on your capacity for tolerating nonsense) for triviality and flippancy. He likes to insult his political enemies in funny skits on Facebook and Twitter in Yoruba and pidgin English songs, all the while dancing and laughing maniacally. He also regularly displays his expensive houses and exotic cars on social media, apparently to show how far up he has come in the world. For some reason, the former national legislator does not see any contradiction between his alleged role as a “champion of the masses” and these crude displays of affluence in a society where millions are not sure of the next meal. But then no one can successfully accuse Mr. Melaye of possessing discernment or refinement.

It didn’t take long for Melaye to revert to his comfort zone. He soon got into a mud fight with another personality in the same line of political business – former Aviation Minister and newly minted APC chieftain Femi Fani-Kayode. They have both produced and starred in video skits posted on social media in which they insult and make fun of each other. Among other allegations, they have accused each other of corruption, drug usage and of being “political scavengers”.  The skits have generated a lot of traffic for their entertainment value but they contain no references to the plans of the APC and PDP to fix the economy and unite a country that has been serially mismanaged.

The antics of the two gladiators reflect the kind of crass, college dormitory-level antics that have taken over our politics especially within the past decade. Increasingly, our politics is defined not by the issues that keep citizens awake at night but by hot air and empty exhibitionism. It is a political theater overwhelmed by the absurd. Social media is full of Wike’s songs and colourful outfits, Bola Tinubu’s rickety health condition, Aiku’s alleged stake in a generator importing firm (which he has denied), the alleged gaps in Peter Obi’s statistics, etc. There is much to laugh about but not much to think about. The rise in the noise level is at the expense of serious engagement and productive debate.

Increasingly, even Peter Obi’s focus on substance and good governance which distinguished his campaign and gave him a strong boost initially is being replaced by in-your-face aggressiveness by some of his supporters to match low ball antics of some of the supporters of other candidates. He has come out a few times to urge his supporters to be more moderate and focus on substance but his appeals have largely fallen on deaf ears. Some Obidients have come out to tell him: “Oga, you’re too nice and niceness will not win this battle”.

And this mindset perhaps explains why the appointment of Melaye, as atrocious as it is, is understandable. It is likely that Atiku was persuaded to appoint him because in the political jungle inhabited by Festus Keyamo, Lai Mohammed and other experienced fighters, a “nice” spokesman would not do the party much good.

One rabid, mongrel word captures what is going on: vawulence.  Vawulence is king and everyone is falling in line. But what exactly is vawulence? The Urban Dictionary defines it as “an attack full of pure unadulterated vitrol”, “a wicked attack which comes with pains in an aggressive way” and “being a scary mother****er”. It explains that the word is a Nigerian slang that was invented as a means of escaping Facebook bans and restrictions for using the root word which seems to have been blacklisted. Of course, there are other definitions elsewhere.

Whatever its origins, vawulence has permeated Nigeria’s political culture. It is driving a robust conviction in the current environment that attack dogs are more useful than professionals who try to persuade the electorate that a particular candidate or party has the requisite leadership qualities to turn the country’s fortunes around. The growing culture of vawulence speaks volumes about what we think of ourselves and what our leaders think of us.

Of course, insults and put-downs have always been part of our politics. KO Mbadiwe, Samuel Akintola, Bola Ige, Uche Chukwumerije and others were famous practitioners of the art. However, the current wave suggests that they have become the dominant, legitimized component of political engagement in Nigeria. And they have become less elegant and cruder. There is a growing belief that political issues should be resolved not by superior facts or logic, but by which side can come up with the biggest insults or come up with the most creative ways to make the other side look foolish. In the current political climate, reflective and rigorous politicians like Awolowo and Michael Okpara would have found it difficult to survive.

The genesis of the current wave was, of course, the 2015 elections in which Lai Mohammed played a starring role in the propaganda blitz that helped to decimate PDP. In government, vawulence has remained a potent component of APC’s arsenal as government communications, once the purview of respected professionals like Tunji Oseni, Stanley Macebuh and Remi Oyo, is now characterized by muscular nastiness. The distinction between mud throwing political partisans and official representatives is largely nonexistent.

Despite its growing popularity, I’m convinced that political vawulence is not as useful as advertised. Yes, it is a useful distraction for candidates burdened by huge reputational baggage because a substantial conversation will expose their weaknesses. But for others it has many downsides, not least the fact that it is highly disrespectful of the voter whom it assumes is a fool who will support the side that delivers the most creative abuse or screams loudest. As the popularity of Peter Obi, a candidate whose gospel of good governance and prudence has made him a political rock star shows, the Nigerian voter is not as foolish or as empty as our politicians think.

And that’s exactly why a strategy of vawulence may provide much entertainment but may not assure victory. 

Nwabuikwu is a member of THISDAY Editorial Board